A Demon's Path Chapter 100

Under Heavenly River City's tender loving care, Ling Xiao's tenacious body resembling that of a cockroach's recovered extremely fast. In the end, he even crawled out of bed half a day earlier than Li Yuanchong. After he moved his arms, stretched himself out, and discovered his muscles and bones were back in tip-top condition, Ling Xiao let out a long sigh. "That damned bird was really ruthless when it threw me down. What a pity! With your Granddaddy Ling's snake poison, you'll die whether you like it or not!" Ling Xiao recalled the Three-headed Fierce Vulture, but felt better when he fantasised its devastating death.

Once Li Yuanchong could crawl out of bed too, he pulled Ling Xiao straight out of Heavenly River City.

"What on earth are you doing?" Ling Xiao asked in a hurry.

"What do you think? We're bringing the Soul Returning Grass back to the Sunken Wind Valley, of course. Every day wasted is an extra day where Hao's life is in danger."

Ling Xiao helplessly let out a long sigh. What a tiring life he lived. He couldn't even rest a while longer even if he wanted to. He had originally fantasised of the dream-like lives Celestial Soul Masters led. But as it turned out, none of that was true. Their lives were far more painful and tiring than those of ordinary people. Ling Xiao finally had some sort of understanding why his father said what he did before he left. If you can't reach the Heavenly Soul Realm, live an honest life as a commoner until you die of old age! Even though he didn't know where this Heavenly Soul Realm was, he knew the world where his mysterious token came from was definitely the place where powerhouses gathered.

Ling Xiao had to be scared and on edge in the Clear Sky Continent with what little cultivation he currently had, so how could he even dream of going to the Heavenly Soul Realm? Heavenly Soul Realm? Shen Mingfang might know where it is… he thought as he followed Li Yuanchong out of Heavenly River City.

Back when they were heading to Heavenly River City from the Sunken Wind Valley, Ling Xiao seemed to be daydreaming and acting like an idiot all the way through in Li Yuanchong's eyes. However, he'd been communicating with Shen Mingfang through the pearl. From the conversations they had, he got to know she was actually a very pitiful woman. She became one of the strongest Chain Soul Masters of the Sunken Wind Valley and the whole continent when she was only 14. But for some reason, she normally couldn't leave the Bright Moon Pavilion, staying there day and night. When she assumed the role of referee for this edition of the newcomers tournament, it was the first time she'd left the Bright Moon Pavilion in three years.

Of course, Ling Xiao hadn't interrupted Shen Mingfang. He only quietly listened to the woman talk about the darkness enshrouding her. A great many questions ran through his mind. How did you become a violet ranked powerhouse at only 14? Why wasn't it Shen Nanfeng? Why can't you leave Bright Moon Pavilion? But even with so many questions filling his mind, he firmly believed every word she spoke. And if she could tell him the answers to his questions, she would. There was no need to ask. So, since she didn't divulge such information freely, it was obvious they were secrets. He naturally didn't need to ask about it.

Ling Xiao finally understood something. Shen Mingfang was a lonely woman in dire need of a conversation partner. She was only faintly acquainted with Ling Xiao. But if she didn't look for him, who else could she look for? He bitterly laughed. He didn't know whether he was lucky or not. After all, not everyone had the privilege of becoming the conversational buddy of a violet ranked powerhouse.

"Where are we?" Ling Xiao suddenly felt something off. He was pulled back from his memories into reality, coming to a quick stop.

"We're 150 kilometers away from Heavenly River City," Li Yuanchong said. "If we pick up the pace, I believe we can reach the Sunken Wind Valley in less than four days."

Ling Xiao smiled. "Actually, I think it's more convenient if we fly on my broom."

"Why?" Li Yuanchong stared blankly at Ling Xiao. "Your injuries just recovered. It takes you a lot of mental strength to control that broom. I'm afraid you'll be done after flying for less than a day. Let's walk. I'm not in that much of a hurry. Why are you suddenly anxious?"

Ling Xiao pointed at a brown horse in front of them. "Do you know what horse that is?"

How could Li Yuanchong be in the mood to stop and chatter with Ling Xiao about something as nonsensical as a horse? "Isn't it just a horse? What, is it some special horse?"

Ling Xiao laughed in a strange manner. "You didn't realise something different with it?"

Li Yuanchong thought for a moment before a murderous aura formed around him. "For a horse to appear here of all places without an owner, something is wrong!" He took out his pike and aimed at the horse. His attack cut through the wind.

Neigh! The horse let out a long neigh. It stretched its neck out and bumped the pike which had orange soulforce laced around it back to Li Yuanchong.

Bang! Li Yuanchong's arms went numb. He was forced to take a few steps back. "Dammit! What's the deal with this horse?" He pinched his fingers and palms to loosen up his hands.

Ling Xiao spoke to the horse, "Sire, you must've come from the Netherworldly Mansion. Why must you turn into a horse? You don't know this, but there's someone I once knew. If he was still alive, he'd love to ride you."

Li Yuanchong curiously shot Ling Xiao a glance. He never thought this guy would actually think about his late friend Qian Hai at a time like this.

Hummmmmm! A flash of green light burst out and the horse turned into a well-built man. "Sire, you have a good eye. You must be Elder Ling, the one who's been flourishing in the limelight lately, am I right?"

Ling Xiao mischievously smiled. "I never thought I'd be so famous. If I were not Ling Xiao, you wouldn't be here, right?"

The man's eyebrows twitched, his face serious. "That is so. Please return my Netherworldly Mansion's Soul Returning Grass you stole from the Myriad Bamboo Peak. If you do so, our Netherworldly Mansion will pretend nothing happened."

Ling Xiao nodded in earnest. "Stealing things is indeed wrong-"

When the man heard Ling Xiao say these words, he thought Ling Xiao really intended to return the item to him. So, his expression relaxed. But who could've known Ling Xiao's next words would almost make him spit out half the blood flowing through his body?

"But we didn't steal it," Ling Xiao simply said. Even Li Yuanchong couldn't help himself from shooting a disdainful glance at Ling Xiao, which was returned with a vicious glare. He knew all too well how this brother of his would explain himself. He'd say something along the lines of, That's right, that's right. We didn't steal it. We fought with our lives for that blade of Soul Returning Grass!

The man was so angry his face went ashen. He spoke through gritted teeth, "Then don't blame me, Jiang Donglai, for using force."

Ling Xiao snapped his fingers. "Wuhen, I'll leave this stupid horse to you."

"Yes!" Li Wuhen appeared out of nowhere in front of Ling Xiao and Li Yuanchong with a whoosh. "Let me experience your skillful techniques, sire."

"I'm afraid you can't handle it," Jiang Donglai shouted.

Li Yuanchong and Ling Xiao continued on their way. One ran as fast as the wind, while the other kept looking back over his shoulder. Ling Xiao finally got annoyed with this as he asked, "Aren't you anxious to return to the Sunken Wind Valley and save Brother Hao? What's so interesting behind us that you have to keep looking over your shoulder?"

"Li Wuhen still hasn't caught up to us," Li Yuanchong replied after hesitating slightly.

"Relax. They're both at the green rank. You have to know. Sometimes killing a person isn't that easy of a task, especially when both fighters are at the same rank." Even though Ling Xiao said these words of assurance, he had an uncomfortable feeling in the bottom of his heart. He wasn't confident at all. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Li Wuhen wouldn't die so easily, and that was something Ling Xiao did believe in.

After running a little further, Ling Xiao stopped again. Li Yuanchong didn't question him this time. He knew Ling Xiao had something akin to an instinctual anticipation toward danger that was far stronger than his.

The one blocking them this time around was a beautiful peacock. Euphemistically speaking, it was spreading its beautiful tail out as a mating call.

"How many times do I have to say this? We didn't steal your things," Ling Xiao said in an annoyed tone.

"If you didn't steal it, how do you know we lost something?" The male peacock asked. It was actually the cute voice of a girl.

Once he heard the voice that possibly belonged to a beauty, Ling Xiao's eyes started shining. "A dear friend of mine from before told me you dropped something and suspect I'm the one who took it. That's why I know. Oh, right. If you can reveal your true appearance, I might be able to give you some useful information."

Li Yuanchong stood next to Ling Xiao as he heard him spew nonsense. He felt deeply sorry for himself. Associating himself with this kind of person would ruin whatever reputation he had left.

The lewd expression on Ling Xiao's face was as vivid as a strange uncle swindling an underaged girl. How did he look the slightest bit like Celestial Soul Masters who were widely known for being righteous?

The peacock seemed to hesitate for a moment. A green light flashed and it turned into a young lady dressed in green.

Ling Xiao had the urge to throttle the young lady exactly because of how she looked. His face turned fierce. Fuck! You're not a beauty. Why are you making such a grand appearance? For you to have such an ugly face, are you trying to scare this big brother to death?!

Chapter end